(Untitled)

[epitomeofvanity]

WHO: Miyazawa Yukino [epitomeofvanity] + Don Draper [change_just_is]
WHEN: Friday, February 20th, 1953
WHERE: Schwarzalbenheim; Apt. 2
FILTER: Closed.
WHAT: Cooking Lesson time!
STATUS: [COMPLETED]

Comments

[change_just_is]

He meets her eyes and winks at her, but so quickly that it might have appeared as though he simply had something in his eye. "So," he says, "When would you like to do another cooking lesson?" It's obvious that he's looking forward to it, and eager to do it again soon, not least because he gets a good meal out of it. With the new job, hopefully he'll be able to set aside some money and actually take her out somewhere without selling off his rations books to do it. He had to admit it would be amusing to take her to the brothel, but he'd probably stick to restaurants or bars. After all, he knew that most women liked being taken out and paid attention to, and she had seemed to enjoy some of the attention he'd given her.

[epitomeofvanity]

The comfortable feeling you get after eating and enjoying pleasant company -which Don was, despite his pitfalls- relaxed Yukino. She gave a soft hum as she thought. "I want to do a bit more research first. I might make a schedule for the next month, and it would have what you need to bring. I have some paper so I can spare at least one for that." The rest was for her journal, which she had been a little less than diligent in upkeeping recently, but was going back to fill in blanks with what she remembered.

[change_just_is]

He grins at her, "That sounds good," he says. He's feeling that relaxed happiness too, especially after having eaten a bigger meal than he's eaten since he was back home. "I have some paper, too," he tells her, "But I've been writing ad campaigns on it." This statement is followed with a little self-deprecating laugh. Even when he's thousands of miles and 10 years away from home, he's somehow still trying to do his job. Old habits die hard, he supposes, but she'll probably think he's ridiculous. Most people would, he knows. The focus here should be on survival, and on working those secretarial jobs that most of them seemed to end up in. But he couldn't turn off that part of his brain.

[epitomeofvanity]

And that gets Yukino to perk up a bit. "Ad campaigns?" The ways he says it doesn't seem like she's making fun of him. It's definitely the opposite. "I would like to see," and she trails off, eyes alight as she gives him a smile. If she had ears and a tail, they'd definitely be turned forward and wagging. If he was going to bring up the subject she wouldn't turn away from it. He could explain it to her and she would take notes. Advertising was about selling something, sometimes yourself, and you can never have enough advice about that. Yukino was over thinking solely about survival. She had to have fun or else she would go stir crazy. The past few months had proved that to her many times over.

[change_just_is]

He raises an eyebrow. "Really?" he asks. He hadn't thought people around here would be very interested in something like that, since it wasn't very useful, and didn't get him any money or food. But she seemed genuinely interested in it, and was smiling at it. Maybe it would be something he could show her, in exchange for the cooking lessons. He'd certainly missed being able to talk about these things with people. With his coworkers not here, and with nobody else from the ad industry here, he felt isolated, sometimes. How could he turn down the opportunity to talk about his favorite thing with someone who showed interest in it?

"I'll bring my 'portfolio' next time," he says, laughing. Having his briefcase here had come in handy after all, even though he'd been a little surprised that it had seemed to be the one item from home he was allowed to bring. At least now he could carry things around--ad campaigns included.

[epitomeofvanity]

Yukino loved knowledge, and even though she wanted to be a doctor, there was nothing wrong with picking up a little bit of everything. From his face, she could tell he was surprised by her interest. "Please do!" She enjoyed the look, thinking that she might not be able to see it as often as she would like.

"Do you know anything about the money market? Stocks and Bonds?" Her voice sounds hopeful. She used to play the market at home and it was how her living expenses for college were taken care of. The parts where a scholarship wouldn't cover, of course. But talking with someone about risk management and the different kinds of accounts and strategies would bring her even closer to her old self. The self that had seemed to have been dying a slow death until recently.

[change_just_is]

He nods in response to her hopeful question, "Some, although my knowledge is limited." He's played the stock market, but not as much as he might have liked to. He was mostly wrapped up in his job, and didn't pay attention to the market as much as he should have, but he had a basic knowledge, and it would be something he'd enjoy discussing with someone else. To be able to talk about work again to someone who seemed interested? That would be almost better than anything he'd experienced here so far. Of course, if he was also able to flirt with said person while doing it? Even better.

[epitomeofvanity]

Oh Don, Yukino might have regretted it just a little bit if she knew of his intentions. Well, besides the sheer enjoyment from talking about something you love. Don might be blown a bit out of the water by how much knowledge Yukino had about playing the market. She had magazines and books about it at home, all lined up in a little bookshelf. They were highlighted and bookmarked, but all well taken care of. "Good~" and she looks very excited by this, even more than about his advertising portfolio. Honestly, Don was the perfect person for her to meet. It was almost impossible for a better person to have fallen through the gate. She really looked forward to it. "Maybe I can teach you a few things~" and now she's looks a little more devious, her smile getting a bit of an edge to it.

[change_just_is]

He chuckles. "Maybe you can," he says, winking. She probably knows more about it than he does, but that doesn't mean that he doesn't look forward to talking about it with her. Being able to talk business again, especially with an attractive woman, was a pleasing prospect. In an ideal situation, they'd both learn something from the other, and he was hoping that that was how it would turn out. And maybe if she had enough interest in what he had to say about advertising and stocks, she'd have interest in... other aspects of him, as well.

[epitomeofvanity]

She definitely knew she would teach him something. Doubtful that it would be how to keep his hands off of her, but hope sprang eternal. Yukino slid her chair back and took up the plates and utensils. "It's time to wash the dishes, before it all starts to get dry." And she fully expected him to help. That was part of the cooking, and she can't help but think him in her blind spot was a bad idea.

As she ran a bit of water in the sink and ran just enough water to cover the plates, she tilted her head. "Which apartment do you live in, Don?" He knew where she was, but just in case something happened it was good to know where he lived.

[change_just_is]

He stands up and follows her to the sink, fully prepared to help. He didn't often help his wife with the dishes, but then she got irritated when he was in her way too much in the kitchen. Since he'd cooked, he was going to help Yukino wash up, if she'd let him. "I live in Apartment 3. The one that, until recently, did not have a door." He was glad that he and Duo had changed that. It had been odd to live in an apartment with no front door. It was bad enough that he didn't have much privacy, having roommates, but the lack of privacy with no door was even worse.

[epitomeofvanity]

Yukino wasn't going to stop him at all. If he had tried to weasel out of it, she might have given him another swat. She wasn't going to tolerate laziness, or any kinds of sexist thinking. This wasn't the place for the standard types of roles, even if it was half a century before her time. She got enough of the odds looks at work for lifting and doing manual labor. Small Japanese woman or not, she wasn't going to wait around for things to be moved if she can do it herself.

Yukino smiles a bit. "That apartment hasn't had a door for a long time. I lived in Apartment Five not too long ago. I'm lucky that I didn't ever have to move until I did it voluntarily." She took a rag and dropped it into the water, splashing it around to try and create suds with the minimal amount of soap she could put in there. "Who put on the door?"

[change_just_is]

Don had certainly internalized some sexist thinking, but he'd help with the dishes, especially somewhere like Veles where traditional gender roles shouldn't really matter, since getting food and surviving zombies was more important. He picked up a plate, preparing to wash it in the suds she had managed to create. "Duo and I put the door on the apartment--have you met him?" he asks, unsure of whether Duo had been there long enough to meet most people. Duo had only been there about as long as Don, and Don hadn't seen Yukino out and about that much. "He found the door in that abandoned apartment building. It seemed like a waste to leave it there when we needed a door. Luckily it fit." He grins.

[epitomeofvanity]

Yukino figured he'd know how to wash dishes. It wasn't that hard when it hadn't been allowed to sit. Just make sure that all the visible food was off of it. At the mention of a 'Duo' she blinked. "Duo? That's his name?" She makes a bit of a face as she puts what they didn't use away in the cabinet. "That's a strange name. No, I haven't met him. He must be one of your roommates?" Yukino had been around, but when it was that cold she didn't dally around outside that often. She should have stayed a hermit a bit longer and waited until spring. As he finished the dish, she set it in the other compartment of the sink that had yet to be filled. "So he went on a scavenger hunt~" and she's amused. Someone should have done that long ago. Living without any door was a bad idea. You hardly had any privacy now.

[[G-Gotta sleep. So tired T^T Tag tomorrow!]]

[change_just_is]

He starts on the next dish, scrubbing it as well as he can. "Yeah, he's one of my roommates, he's just a kid. Maybe fifteen or so." Don found it amusing that nobody else had thought of finding a door for the apartment before Duo had showed up and dragged a door all the way from the other apartment building. Luckily it had been the exact same size and shape as the doorframe in Midgard, and they'd been able to put it up without too much trouble.

"There're a lot of people with strange names around here," he observes, handing the now washed dish to her so she can put it in the other part of the sink.

[[Sleep well! I'll try to get some tags in before I leave tomorrow afternoon

[epitomeofvanity]

"That's young," and she takes the dish from him and places it in the basin. "The gate doesn't take that many who are so young. I wonder if his parents are worried." She sighs and taps her fingers on the plate.

[[S-Sorry. Short tag is super short. *brain not working*]]